Step-by-step guide to ALE and IDOCs

By Shankar Reddy Chamala, ITChamps Software

Introduction to EDI and ALE:

EDI (Electronic Document interchange) - EDI is the electronic exchange of business documents
between the computer systems of business partners, using a standard format over a
communication network.
EDI is also called paperless exchange.

Advantages:

Reduced Data entry errors

Reduced processing time
Availability of data in electronic form
Reduced paperwork
Reduced Cost
Reduced inventories and better planning
Standard means of communications
Better business process

EDI has two process

1. Outbound process
2. Inbound process

Outbound Process:
1.Application document is created.
2. IDOC is generated
3.Idoc is transferred from SAP to Operating system layer
4.Idoc is converted into EDI standards
5.Edi document is transmitted to the business partner
6.The Edi Subsystem report status to SAP

Inbound Process:
1.EDI transmission received
2.EDI document is converted into an IDOC
3.IDOC is transferred to the SAP layer
4.The application document is created
5.The application document can be viewed.

IDOC:
IDOC is a container that can be used to exchange
data between any two processes.

Each IDOC is assigned a unique number for tracking and future reference.
IDOC consists of several segments, and segments contain several fields.

IDOC contains the following three types of records...

1. One Control Record.
2. One or many Data Record
3. One or many Status record.

In IDOCs the following terms are to be known.

PORT:
Port is used in the outbound process to determine the name of the EDI subsystem program, the
directory path where the IDOC file will be created at the operating system level, the IDOC file
names and the RFC destinations.

RFC Destination:
Used to define the characteristics of communication links to a remote system on which a
functions needs to be executed.

Partner Profile:
Partner profile specified the various components used in an outbound process (Partner number,
IDOC type, message type, Port, Process code), the mode in which it communicates with the
subsystem (batch or immediate) and the person to be notified in case of errors.

Message Control
Used in pricing, account determination, material determination, and output determination. The
message control component enables you to encapsulate business rules with out having to write
ABAP programs.

TO Process IDOCS the following TCODES will be used.

On both sides:

Logical System Names SALE

Setup RFC destinations SM59
Port Destinations WE21

In Source system:

Segment Creation WE31

Basic IDOC Type Creation WE30

Message Type Creation WE81

Assign Message Type To Basic IDOC Type WE82

Distribution Model BD64

Writing Report Program SE38
Partner Profile WE20
Message control NACE

Check IDOCs WE02, WE05

In Destination System:

Creating FM SE37

Assign FM to Logical Message WE57

Define I/P method for Inbound FM BD51

Create Process Code WE42

Generate Partner Profile BD64

IDOC processing in the same instance of R/3 Clients.

For example two clients in the same R/3 instance.

Client 900.

Client 800.

To transfer the data between two clients the table structures and their data types should be
match.

In this example, Client 900 is Source system, and Client 800 is destination system.

In Client 900 I have created a customized table and inserted some records.

In Client 800 I have created only table.

Common Steps in Both Clients:

Creating the Logical System Names and Assigning to Clients:

Go to TCODE SALE.

IMG path IDoc Interface / Application Link Enabling (ALE) -> Basic Settings -> Logical
Systems -> Define Logical System
Click on Display / Change Button

Click on New Entries

Specify the Logical System name and description.

Note: Logical System Naming convention is <SID>CLNT<NNN>

Click on Save and Back buttons

Now you will come back to the IMG path screen. Click on Assign Logical System to client.
Click on Display / Change Button

Click on New Entries

Click on Save and Back.

Click here to continue...

..Previous

Creating the RFC Connection Names:

Go to TCODE SALE. Direct TCODE SM59

IMG Path IDoc Interface / Application Link Enabling (ALE) -> Communication -> Create RFC
Connections

Click on Create button.

Specify all the details in RFC connection screen

Click on Logon Security tab and specify the details.

Click on the Special options tab and specify the details which you want.
Now click on Test Connection button

It show the connection log in next screen

Click on Back

Click on Remote Logon Button

Depends upon your settings the destination client will open. If you check the Current user option
under Logon/ Security tab, then it will show the screen directly without asking the user name and
password details.
Creating RFC ports:

Go to TCODE WE21

Select the Transactional RFC in left side tree and click on Create button

In dialog box you can select either Generate port name or own port name. If you select Generate
Port name system will generate automatically. Here I selected Own port name. Click on
continue.
Specify the description and RFC destination name.

Click on Save.
Repeat the same above process in other client. By using opposite client instead of 900 specify
800.

In Client 900 steps:

Creating table structure:

 Go to TCODE SE11.

 Specify table name as ZSTUDENTS.

 In Delivery and Maintenance tab set attributes as “Display Maintenance Allowed”

 The table fields are.

 Insert some records in table.

Click here to continue...

..Previous

Creating IDOC Segments:

Go to TCODE WE31.

Specify a name and Click on Create Button.

Here specify all the ZSTUDENTS table fields and their types as shown below.

Click on SAVE button, then it will show dialog box with user name, press continue.
Specify your package name and click on save.

Specify your request and press “Continue”.

Click on Back button, and then you will see the created segment.

Creating Basic IDOC Type:

Go to TCODE WE30

Specify a name to your IDOC and click on create button.

In next dialog box select create new option and specify the description of IDOC and click on continue.

Click on Create segment in the screen.

In dialog box specify the segment name which you created and check mandatory check box.
Click on SAVE and BACK button.

Go to menu EDIT ->Click Set Release

In next dialog box, click on Yes.

Creating Message Type:

Go to TCODE WE81.

Click on Display / Change button.

Click on New Entries button.

Specify a message type name and Description and click on SAVE button.

Click on Back and Save

Click here to continue...

...Previous

Assign Message Type to Basic IDOC Type:

Go to TCODE WE82

Click on Display / Change Button

Click on New Entries, Specify the Message Type and Basic IDOC Type and Release version. Click on
Save.

Click on Back.

Note:

 Here the Release version you can find in this way

Creating Model View and Distributing and Generating Partner profile:

Go to TCODE BD64

Click on Display/ Change button

Click on Edit menu -> Model View -> Create

Specify description of model view and technical name in dialog box and press continue.
Select your model view and click on Edit menu -> Add Message type

In dialog box specify the sender, receiver, message type and click on continue.
Now your Model View looks like

Click on Environment Menu -> Generate Partner profile

It will show the following screen, click on execute.

It will show the partner profile log in next screen.

Click on Back button 2 times, it will take back to Distribution Model screen.

Click here to continue...

...Previous

Click on Edit Menu -> Model View -> Distribute.

In displayed dialog box select the partner system and click continue

Then it will show the Log of Model View Distribution.

Click on Back button.

To check partner profile Go to TCODE WE20

In displayed screen select the partner system in left side tree under Partner Type LS.

Write a Report Program in SE38 to create IDOC control records and transfer it to destination
partner system.

The following is the program to generate the IDOC control records and process it.

*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*& Report ZSHAN_IDOC_STUD
*&
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*&
*&
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
REPORT ZSHAN_IDOC_STUD.
TABLES: ZSTUDENTS.
DATA : S_CTRL_REC LIKE EDIDC, "Idoc Control Record
S_ZSHSTUSEG LIKE ZSHSTUSEG. "CUSTOMER Header Data
DATA : T_ZSTUDENTS LIKE ZSTUDENTS OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE.
DATA : T_EDIDD LIKE EDIDD OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE. "Data Records
DATA : T_COMM_IDOC LIKE EDIDC OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE. "Generated
Communication IDOc
CONSTANTS :C_ZSHSTUSEG LIKE EDIDD-SEGNAM VALUE 'ZSHSTUSEG'.
CONSTANTS: C_IDOCTP LIKE EDIDC-IDOCTP VALUE 'ZSHSTUDIDOCS'.
*** Selection Screen
SELECT-OPTIONS : S_STUID FOR ZSTUDENTS-ZSTUID OBLIGATORY.
PARAMETERS : C_MESTYP LIKE EDIDC-MESTYP DEFAULT 'ZSHSTUDMT', "Message Type
C_RCVPRT LIKE EDIDC-RCVPRT DEFAULT 'LS', "Partner type
of receiver
C_LOGSYS LIKE EDIDC-RCVPRN DEFAULT 'IT3CLNT800',
C_RCVPOR LIKE EDIDC-RCVPOR DEFAULT 'PORTSH800',
C_SNDPRN LIKE EDIDC-SNDPRN DEFAULT 'IT3CLNT900',
C_SNDPRT LIKE EDIDC-SNDPRT DEFAULT 'LS'. "Destination
System
***START-OF-SELECTION
START-OF-SELECTION.
PERFORM GENERATE_DATA_RECORDS.
PERFORM GENERATE_CONTROL_RECORD.
PERFORM SEND_IDOC.
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*& Form GENERATE_DATA_RECORDS
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
* text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
* --> p1 text
* <-- p2 text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM GENERATE_DATA_RECORDS .
SELECT * FROM ZSTUDENTS
INTO TABLE T_ZSTUDENTS
WHERE ZSTUID IN S_STUID.
IF SY-SUBRC NE 0.
MESSAGE E398(00) WITH 'No Students Found'.
ENDIF.
PERFORM ARRANGE_DATA_RECORDS.
ENDFORM. " GENERATE_DATA_RECORDS
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*& Form GENERATE_CONTROL_RECORD
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
* text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
* --> p1 text
* <-- p2 text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM GENERATE_CONTROL_RECORD .
S_CTRL_REC-RCVPOR = C_RCVPOR. "Receiver Port
S_CTRL_REC-MESTYP = C_MESTYP. "Message type
S_CTRL_REC-IDOCTP = C_IDOCTP. "Basic IDOC type
S_CTRL_REC-RCVPRT = C_RCVPRT. "Partner type of receiver
S_CTRL_REC-RCVPRN = C_LOGSYS. "Partner number of receiver
S_CTRL_REC-SNDPRT = C_SNDPRT. "Sender Partner type
S_CTRL_REC-SNDPRN = C_SNDPRN. "Sender Partner Number
ENDFORM. " GENERATE_CONTROL_RECORD
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*& Form SEND_IDOC
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
* text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
* --> p1 text
* <-- p2 text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM SEND_IDOC .
CALL FUNCTION 'MASTER_IDOC_DISTRIBUTE'
EXPORTING
MASTER_IDOC_CONTROL = S_CTRL_REC
* OBJ_TYPE = ''
* CHNUM = ''
TABLES
COMMUNICATION_IDOC_CONTROL = T_COMM_IDOC
MASTER_IDOC_DATA = T_EDIDD
EXCEPTIONS
ERROR_IN_IDOC_CONTROL = 1
ERROR_WRITING_IDOC_STATUS = 2
ERROR_IN_IDOC_DATA = 3
SENDING_LOGICAL_SYSTEM_UNKNOWN = 4
OTHERS = 5
.
IF SY-SUBRC <> 0.
MESSAGE ID SY-MSGID TYPE SY-MSGTY NUMBER SY-MSGNO
WITH SY-MSGV1 SY-MSGV2 SY-MSGV3 SY-MSGV4.
ELSE.
COMMIT WORK.
LOOP AT T_COMM_IDOC.
WRITE:/ 'IDoc Generated - ', T_COMM_IDOC-DOCNUM.
ENDLOOP.
ENDIF.
ENDFORM. " SEND_IDOC
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*& Form ARRANGE_DATA_RECORDS
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
* text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
* --> p1 text
* <-- p2 text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM ARRANGE_DATA_RECORDS .
DATA: W_INDEX1 LIKE SY-TABIX,
W_INDEX2 LIKE SY-TABIX.
SORT T_ZSTUDENTS BY ZSTUID.
LOOP AT T_ZSTUDENTS.
S_ZSHSTUSEG-ZSTUID = T_ZSTUDENTS-ZSTUID.
S_ZSHSTUSEG-ZSNAME = T_ZSTUDENTS-ZSNAME.
T_EDIDD-SEGNAM = C_ZSHSTUSEG.
T_EDIDD-SDATA = S_ZSHSTUSEG.
APPEND T_EDIDD.
CLEAR T_EDIDD.
ENDLOOP.
ENDFORM. " ARRANGE_DATA_RECORDS

Now execute the program, and specify the range of records to transfer
Go to TCODE WE02 to check the generated IDOC control records.

Click on Execute
Click here to continue...

...Previous

In Client 800 Steps:

Function Module Creation:

Create a Function Module to update the table from the IDOC segments

Go to SE37

Specify a name and click on create.

In dialog box specify function group and description, and click on save.
Specify the Import parameters in Import tab

Specify the Export parameters in Export tab

Specify the Table parameters in Tables tab

Specify the Exceptions in Exception tab

Click on Source code Tab.

Write the following code in Source code tab.

FUNCTION ZSHAN_IDOC_ZSHSTUDMT.
*"--------------------------------------------------------------------
*"*"Local Interface:
*" IMPORTING
*" REFERENCE(INPUT_METHOD) LIKE BDWFAP_PAR-INPUTMETHD
*" REFERENCE(MASS_PROCESSING) LIKE BDWFAP_PAR-MASS_PROC
*" EXPORTING
*" REFERENCE(WORKFLOW_RESULT) LIKE BDWF_PARAM-RESULT
*" REFERENCE(APPLICATION_VARIABLE) LIKE BDWF_PARAM-APPL_VAR
*" REFERENCE(IN_UPDATE_TASK) LIKE BDWFAP_PAR-UPDATETASK
*" REFERENCE(CALL_TRANSACTION_DONE) LIKE BDWFAP_PAR-CALLTRANS
*" TABLES
*" IDOC_CONTRL STRUCTURE EDIDC
*" IDOC_DATA STRUCTURE EDIDD
*" IDOC_STATUS STRUCTURE BDIDOCSTAT
*" RETURN_VARIABLES STRUCTURE BDWFRETVAR
*" SERIALIZATION_INFO STRUCTURE BDI_SER
*" EXCEPTIONS
*" WRONG_FUNCTION_CALLED
*"--------------------------------------------------------------------
* Include File containing ALE constants
INCLUDE MBDCONWF.
TABLES : ZSTUDENTS.
DATA : W_ZSHSTUSEG LIKE ZSHSTUSEG.
DATA : T_ZSTUDENTS LIKE ZSTUDENTS OCCURS 0 WITH HEADER LINE.
WORKFLOW_RESULT = C_WF_RESULT_OK.
LOOP AT IDOC_CONTRL.
IF IDOC_CONTRL-MESTYP NE 'ZSHSTUDMT'.
RAISE WRONG_FUNCTION_CALLED.
ENDIF.
* Before reading a new entry, clear application buffer
LOOP AT IDOC_DATA WHERE DOCNUM EQ IDOC_CONTRL-DOCNUM.
W_ZSHSTUSEG = IDOC_DATA-SDATA.
MOVE-CORRESPONDING W_ZSHSTUSEG TO T_ZSTUDENTS.
INSERT INTO ZSTUDENTS VALUES T_ZSTUDENTS.
ENDLOOP.
UPDATE ZSTUDENTS FROM T_ZSTUDENTS.
IF SY-SUBRC EQ 0.
IDOC_STATUS-DOCNUM = IDOC_CONTRL-DOCNUM.
IDOC_STATUS-STATUS = '53'.
IDOC_STATUS-MSGTY = 'I'.
IDOC_STATUS-MSGID = 'YM'.
IDOC_STATUS-MSGNO = '004'.
IDOC_STATUS-MSGV1 = T_ZSTUDENTS-ZSTUID.
APPEND IDOC_STATUS.
CLEAR IDOC_STATUS.
ELSE.
IDOC_STATUS-DOCNUM = IDOC_CONTRL-DOCNUM.
IDOC_STATUS-STATUS = '51'.
IDOC_STATUS-MSGTY = 'E'.
IDOC_STATUS-MSGID = 'YM'.
IDOC_STATUS-MSGNO = '005'.
IDOC_STATUS-MSGV1 = T_ZSTUDENTS-ZSTUID.
APPEND IDOC_STATUS.
CLEAR IDOC_STATUS.
WORKFLOW_RESULT = C_WF_RESULT_ERROR.
RETURN_VARIABLES-WF_PARAM = 'Error_Idocs'.
 RETURN_VARIABLES-DOC_NUMBER = IDOC_CONTRL-DOCNUM.
APPEND RETURN_VARIABLES.
CLEAR RETURN_VARIABLES.
ENDIF.
ENDLOOP.
ENDFUNCTION.

Click on Save and Activate.

Assign FM to Logical Message:

Go to TCODE WE57

Click on Display / Change button.

Click on New Entries Button

Specify created FM name, Function Type, Basic Type (IDOC), Message Type, and Direction and click on
SAVE button.

Click on Back button.

Click here to continue...

...Previous

Define Input Method for Inbound Function Module:

Go to TCODE BD51

Click on Display / Change button

Click on New Entries

Specify FM name and Input Types as 2. And Click on Save and Back buttons.
Creating Process Code:

Go to TCODE WE42

Click on Display / Change Button

Click on New Entries button

Specify a process code name, Description and select the options processing with ALE services,
Processing by Function Module.

Click on save button

In next screen select the FM name and click on SAVE button and Click on BACK button.
It will take to you previous screen. Double Click on Logical Message in left side tree.

Click on Display / Change button

Click on New Entries button

Click here to continue...

..Previous

Specify the Message Type and Click on Save button

Click on Back button

Generating the Partner Profile:

Go to TCODE BD64.

Select the Model View which you distributed in client 900.

Click on Environment Menu -> Generate Partner Profile

It will show the next screen, in that click on Execute button

It will show the Partner Profile details

To check the partner profile details. Go to TCODE WE20. Select the partner system name.
Transferring the IDOC control records from Client 900 to 800:

In source system, go to TCODE SE38. (In client 900)

Execute the Report program which you created.

Check in Destination System: (Here client 800)

Go to TCODE WE02
Check in ZSTUDENTS table in SE11.